Apple demands removal of lawyer monitoring its involvement in e-books

Apple has requested a US court remove a lawyer who has been appointed to oversee the computing giant’s involvement in e-books.

The iPhone and iPad-maker claims Michael Bromwich should not serve as the court-appointed “external compliance monitor”, arguing he had shown a personal bias against the company.

US judge Denise Cote appointed Bromwich in October after the court found Apple was liable for conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices above those set by online retail behemoth Amazon.

Apple complained Bromwich had aggressively sought to interview top executives and claimed his hourly pay of $1100 (£670) was an incentive to be “intrusive”. Bromwich rejected the claims.